Analysis

"The government shows no sign of buckling; nothing, its officials insist, can stop Mr. Chávez's socialist revolution. If anything, the protests may inject new energy into a weak and inefficient dictatorship. The government seems to be biding its time until the silent majority gets impatient with the protesters. It is trying to borrow more money from China, its newest key ally, to restart the economy," writes Rafael Osío Cabrices in the New York Times.

"More than 120 demonstrators have been shot, according to non-governmental organisation Foro Penal Venezolano. Hundreds more have been assaulted. One of them, a partially disabled seamstress called Marvinia Jiménez, 35, was beaten with a helmet by the National Guardafter she used her phone to film national guardsmen throwing rocks at demonstrators. Even though the beating was recorded and posted online, she now stands accused of assaulting the officer who attacked her," writes Reynaldo Trombetta in the Guardian.

"Chávez's policy of harsh criticism of Israel, the severance of diplomatic relations with Israel, his support of regimes like that of the late Muammar Gadhafi in Libya and of Bashar Assad in Syria, and the close partnership he developed with Ahmadinejad's Iran—all this contributed to a dangerous mix of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism in various parts of the regime. Maduro, according to people in the Jewish community, has not exhibited anti-Semitic tendencies," writes Shlomo Papirblat in Haaretz.